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‘Endangered’ or ‘Near Threatened’, distribution status of Karaavali Skittering frog from the west coast of peninsular India


Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune − 411044, Maharashtra, India
2 Western Ghats Regional Centre (WGRC), Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Calicut − 673006, Kerala, India
3 Mount Carmel College, Autonomous; No. 58, Palace Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru − 560052, Karnataka, India
4 School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar − 752050, Odisha, India
 

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The Karaavali skittering frog, Euphlyctis karaavali was described in 2016 from the western coastal plains of Karnataka, India with the IUCN Red list conservation status as ‘Endangered’. In the present account, species distribution boundaries has been re-defined based on the field sampling and museum collections. On account of the present studies, IUCN Red list conservation status for the species is proposed as ‘Near Threatened’. Discussions have been made on the morphological crypticity prevailing in the genus and the species complex E. cyanophlyctis since two centuries. Premature proposal of Red list conservation status during the new species descriptions and their implications on the biodiversity documentation studies are reviewed.

Keywords

Conservation, Distribution, Extent Of Occurrence (EOO), Genetic Identity, Skittering Frog, Taxonomy, West Coast of India
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  • ‘Endangered’ or ‘Near Threatened’, distribution status of Karaavali Skittering frog from the west coast of peninsular India

Abstract Views: 135  |  PDF Views: 95

Authors

K. P. Dinesh
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Regional Centre (WRC), Pune − 411044, Maharashtra, India
B. H. Channakeshavamurthy
Western Ghats Regional Centre (WGRC), Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Calicut − 673006, Kerala, India
P. Deepak
Mount Carmel College, Autonomous; No. 58, Palace Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru − 560052, Karnataka, India
Avrajjal Ghosh
School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar − 752050, Odisha, India

Abstract


The Karaavali skittering frog, Euphlyctis karaavali was described in 2016 from the western coastal plains of Karnataka, India with the IUCN Red list conservation status as ‘Endangered’. In the present account, species distribution boundaries has been re-defined based on the field sampling and museum collections. On account of the present studies, IUCN Red list conservation status for the species is proposed as ‘Near Threatened’. Discussions have been made on the morphological crypticity prevailing in the genus and the species complex E. cyanophlyctis since two centuries. Premature proposal of Red list conservation status during the new species descriptions and their implications on the biodiversity documentation studies are reviewed.

Keywords


Conservation, Distribution, Extent Of Occurrence (EOO), Genetic Identity, Skittering Frog, Taxonomy, West Coast of India

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi%2Fv121%2Fi3%2F2021%2F152628